🏷 Discover The Best Indigenous Movies & TV Shows To Watch Today

19 titles with this tag

Unveiling the Rich Cultural Heritage of Indigenous Communities through Film and Television

Indigenous cultures have long been a source of fascination and inspiration for filmmakers and audiences alike. From the majestic landscapes of the American West to the vibrant traditions of Australia's Aboriginal people, the stories of indigenous communities are a rich tapestry of history, spirituality, and resilience. In this article, we'll explore some of the best movies and TV shows related to indigenous cultures, shedding light on the complexities and beauty of these often-overlooked communities.

Cast

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Patrick Disanto

Baraka (1992)

8.2 691 votes

Genre: Documentary

Country: United States of America

Duration: 97 min.

Audience: NR

Story: A paralysingly beautiful documentary with a global vision—an odyssey through landscape and time—that attempts to capture the essence of life.

Plot: prayer, indigenous, community, time, spirituality, pagan, discovery world, culture, ...

Cast

Nilbio Torres

Antonio Bolu00edvar

Jan Bijvoet

Brionne Davis

Embrace of the Serpent (2015)

7.7 511 votes

Genre: Adventure, Drama

Country: Argentina, Colombia

Duration: 125 min.

Audience: 15

Story: The epic story of the first contact, encounter, approach, betrayal and, eventually, life-transcending friendship, between Karamakate, an Amazonian shaman, last survivor of his people, and two scientists that, over the course of 40 years, travel through the Amazon in search of a sacred plant that can heal them. Inspired by the journals of the first explorers of the Colombian Amazon, Theodor Koch-Grunberg and Richard Evans Schultes.

Plot: indigenous, religious conversion, amazon rainforest, based on true story, spirituality, colonisation, religious fundamentalism, nature, ...

Cast

Amber Midthunder

Dakota Beavers

Michelle Thrush

Stormee Kipp

Prey (2022)

7.7 7.8K votes

Genre: Action, Science Fiction, Thriller

Country: United States of America

Duration: 100 min.

Audience: R

Story: When danger threatens her camp, the fierce and highly skilled Comanche warrior Naru sets out to protect her people. But the prey she stalks turns out to be a highly evolved alien predator with a technically advanced arsenal.

Plot: hunter, native american, alien life-form, alien, prequel, decapitation, bear, dog, ...

Cast

Stephen Lang

7.6 34.2K votes

Genre: Action, Adventure, Science Fiction

Country: United States of America, United Kingdom

Duration: 162 min.

Audience: PG-13

Story: In the 22nd century, a paraplegic Marine is dispatched to the moon Pandora on a unique mission, but becomes torn between following orders and protecting an alien civilization.

Plot: paraplegic, attachment to nature, culture clash, indigenous, space travel, space colony, tribe, alien planet, ...

Time: 22nd century

Cast

Zahn McClarnon

Kiowa Gordon

Jessica Matten

Deanna Allison

Dark Winds (2022) TV Show

7.4 198 votes

Genre: Crime, Drama, Mystery

Country: United States of America

Seasons: 5

Episodes: 28

Audience: TV-MA

Story: This psychological thriller follows two Navajo police officers, Leaphorn and Chee, in the 1970s Southwest as their search for clues in a grisly double murder case forces them to challenge their own spiritual beliefs and come to terms with the trauma of their pasts.

Style: gritty

Plot: detective, based on novel or book, new mexico, indigenous, investigation, navajo, shaman, witchcraft, ...

Time: 1970s

Cast

Klaus Kinski

Helena Rojo

Del Negro

Ruy Guerra

Aguirre, the Wrath of God (1972)

7.4 1.3K votes

Genre: Adventure, Drama, History

Country: Germany, Mexico

Duration: 95 min.

Audience: NR

Story: A few decades after the destruction of the Inca Empire, a Spanish expedition led by the infamous Aguirre leaves the mountains of Peru and goes down the Amazon River in search of the lost city of El Dorado. When great difficulties arise, Aguirre’s men start to wonder whether their quest will lead them to prosperity or certain death.

Plot: gold, sentence, insanity, gold rush, amazon rainforest, float, conquest, new german cinema, ...

Time: 16th century

Place: peru, south america

Cast

Robert De Niro

Jeremy Irons

Ray McAnally

Aidan Quinn

The Mission (1986)

7.4 1.6K votes

Genre: Action, Adventure, Drama

Country: United Kingdom, France

Duration: 125 min.

Audience: PG

Story: When a Spanish Jesuit goes into the South American wilderness to build a mission in the hope of converting the Indians of the region, a slave hunter is converted and joins his mission. When Spain sells the colony to Portugal, they are forced to defend all they have built against the Portuguese aggressors.

Plot: mission, resistance, christianity, religious conversion, based on true story, waterfall, jungle, colonisation, ...

Time: 18th century

Place: argentina, south america

Cast

Rena Owen

Temuera Morrison

Mamaengaroa Kerr-Bell

Julian Arahanga

Once Were Warriors (1994)

7.4 499 votes

Genre: Drama

Country: New Zealand

Duration: 99 min.

Audience: R

Story: In a violent relationship, it takes a mother’s strength to save herself and her children from the man she loved. Once Were Warriors is a violent love story set against a contemporary urban backdrop.

Plot: individual, suicide, rape, strong woman, tattoo, slum, funeral, alcohol, ...

Place: new zealand

Cast

Johnny Depp

Gary Farmer

Crispin Glover

Lance Henriksen

Dead Man (1995)

7.3 1.7K votes

Genre: Drama, Fantasy, Western

Country: United States of America, Germany

Duration: 122 min.

Audience: R

Story: On the run after committing murder, an accountant encounters a strange Native American man who prepares him for his journey into the spiritual world.

Plot: dying and death, sheriff, bounty hunter, gun, indigenous, attempted murder, prosecution, frontier, ...

Time: 19th century

Cast

Christian Bale

Rosamund Pike

Wes Studi

Jesse Plemons

Hostiles (2017)

6.9 2.5K votes

Genre: Adventure, Drama, History

Country: United States of America

Duration: 134 min.

Audience: R

Story: A legendary Native American-hating Army captain nearing retirement in 1892 is given one last assignment: to escort a Cheyenne chief and his family through dangerous territory back to his Montana reservation.

Plot: widow, montana, new mexico, chief, native american, assignment, grief, murder, ...

Time: 19th century, 1890s

Cast

Jason Momoa

Landon Liboiron

Alun Armstrong

Jessica Matten

Frontier (2016) TV Show

6.8 345 votes

Genre: Action, Drama

Country: Canada, United States of America

Seasons: 3

Episodes: 18

Audience: TV-MA

Story: In 18th-century North America, ruthless trappers and entrepreneurs fight to wrest control of the fur trade from the mighty Hudson's Bay Company.

Plot: newfoundland and labrador, native american, historical fiction, historical drama, indigenous peoples, fur trade

Time: 18th century

Cast

Camilo Arancibia

Heinz K. Krattiger

Mark Stanley

Alfredo Castro

The Settlers (2023)

6.8 154 votes

Genre: Drama, Western

Country: Argentina, Chile

Duration: 101 min.

Audience: NR

Story: Chile, early 20th century. José Menéndez, a wealthy landowner, hires three horsemen to mark out the perimeter of his extensive property and open a route to the Atlantic Ocean across vast Patagonia.

Plot: rape, mass murder, indigenous, expedition, native american, integration, patagonia, argentina, ...

Time: 1900s, 20th century

Place: chile, argentina, south america, ...

Cast

Kevin Costner

Sienna Miller

Sam Worthington

Jena Malone

Horizon: An American Saga - Chapter 1 (2024)

6.8 665 votes

Genre: Drama, Western

Country: United States of America

Duration: 182 min.

Audience: R

Story: In 1859, families discover the lure of the Old West as they settle in territories from Wyoming to Kansas. Meanwhile, a gruff cowboy finds himself on the run with a prostitute and a young boy after killing a fellow gunman.

Style: absurd

Plot: montana, indigenous, brothel, new mexico, american civil war, post civil war, american west, manifest destiny, ...

Time: 19th century, 1860s, 1850s

Place: america

Cast

Candice Bergen

Peter Strauss

Donald Pleasence

John Anderson

Soldier Blue (1970)

6.8 227 votes

Genre: Drama, Western

Country: United States of America

Duration: 115 min.

Audience: R

Story: After a cavalry group is massacred by the Cheyenne, only two survivors remain: Honus, a naive private devoted to his duty, and Cresta, a young woman who had lived with the Cheyenne two years and whose sympathies lie more with them than with the US government. Together, they must try to reach the cavalry's main base camp. As they travel onward, Honus is torn between his growing affection for Cresta.

Plot: based on novel or book, attack, massacre, private, wild west, cheyenne, us military, colorado territory, ...

Time: 1860s, 1870s

Next Goal Wins (2023)

6.4 587 votes

Genre: Comedy, Drama

Country: New Zealand, United Kingdom

Duration: 104 min.

Audience: PG-13

Story: Dutch coach Thomas Rongen attempts the nearly impossible task of turning the American Samoa soccer team from perennial losers into winners.

Plot: world cup, based on true story, coach, football (soccer), aftercreditsstinger, indigenous community, transphobia, transgender, ...

The Curse (2023) TV Show

6.4 171 votes

Genre: Comedy, Drama

Country: United States of America

Seasons: 1

Episodes: 10

Audience: TV-MA

Story: An alleged curse disturbs the relationship of a newly married couple as they try to conceive a child while co-starring on their problematic new HGTV show.

Plot: new mexico, married couple, narcissism, satire, dark comedy, curse, liberal, gentrification, ...

Cast

Lou Diamond Phillips

Nick Stahl

Dana Namerode

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Elisha Pratt

Gangland (2025)

6.3 6 votes

Genre: Action, Crime, Drama

Country: United States of America

Duration: 104 min.

Story: A weathered tribal cop and his new trainee must find a ruthless fugitive, whose return to their rural Indigenous reservation has exposed its darkest secrets and could ignite a violent gang war.

Plot: police, indigenous, native

Cast

Ravi Mohan

Sayesha Saigal

Thambi Ramaiah

Prakash Raj

Vanamagan (2017)

6.0 22 votes

Genre: Action, Adventure

Country: India

Duration: 140 min.

Story: An Andaman tribal who escapes from men trying to capture his people, ends up in the care of a spoilt, rich girl, who starts to fall in love with him.

Plot: indigenous, andaman